The present invention relates to an apparatus for continuously feeding a powdered material such as talc, calcium carbonate, portland cement and the like at an approximately constant rate for a period of time. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,153 and which comprises a receiving member having a substantially horizontal receiving surface, a feed tube for feeding a powdered material onto the receiving member, and means for vibrating the receiving member to cause the powdered material on the receiving member to flow down from the peripheral edge of the receiving member.
In order to feed a powdered material at a greatly increased rate per unit time by the apparatus described above, the apparatus requires a larger floor space for installation or the operation entails frequent and marked variations of the feed rate.
More specifically, use of a receiving member of a larger diameter to raise the feed rate enlarges the apparatus in horizontal dimensions, increasing the floor space required, whilst if it is attempted to increase the thickness of layer of the powdered material on the receiving member to feed the material at a higher rate, adhesion between the particles of the material exerts a growing influence to produce more pronounced irregularities in the flow of the powdered material over the peripheral edge, consequently resulting in marked variations of the feed rate.